Have you ever felt like you are not wanted? You are a curious traveller, you want to see what the country has to offer but they just aren’t helping you. Well, in Saudi Arabia they do just that. There are very few places that welcome you less. It is a strict Muslim country and it’s their country so they can do what they want but surely if you have got permission to be there then you should be able to see what you want within reason? There are several examples but the holy city of Mecca (Makkah) is just the king of this theme of which I’ll explain below.

In Jeddah there are ancient coral houses, as in houses made out of sea coral but they are not looked after and are hard to find. They should be amazing but they aren’t. You are not supposed to take pictures of basically anything. The mosques are the most ornate and impressive structures in Saudi Arabia but you are not supposed to take any pictures although you can sneak a few from far away with the risk of being thrown in jail for a month or two. Not a pleasant thought. The very impressive Mada’in Saleh in North West Saudi is almost as impressive as the world famous Petra in Jordan but nobody sees it. Mada’in Saleh was cut into the rock by the same people, the Nabateans, but it is forgotten. Why, because the Saudi’s make it nigh on impossible to get there without a lot of patience and phone calls. To cut a long story short there is no tourist industry in Saudi. No tourist in the sightseeing tourist sense. They have huge religious tourism for Mecca and Medina but that is where it ends.

When working Jeddah I planned a trip to Taif which is a few hours away on the other side of the city of Mecca. Taif is in the mountains and the king has a big palace there and used to stay there during the summer to escape the heat of the plains below. With the advent of air conditioning it is not used as much. It also has baboons, wild baboons! I sh!t you not. In Saudi Arabia there are wild baboons, hamadryas baboons living on the switchback road up the mountains to Taif and outside the city itself. They are a big attraction for drivers and cause a few traffic jams. Although every other foreigner I talked to at the time had never been there even though they had been in Saudi months, even years despite it only being a 3hr drive. Despite this I wasn’t spending another weekend in my hotel room so I said feck it and headed off. I was very used to the Saudi way of driving (Extremely crazy. Waay crazier than other Gulf countries or South America) and I was just as bad as them at this stage so that wouldn’t be an issue. So setting out into the unknown I had hoped to visit Mecca. Now I had heard the rumours and read a small bit that if you weren’t a Muslim then you wouldn’t be allowed in the mosque which would be normal procedure in Saudi. Pictures of the Masjid Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca are everywhere in Saudi and it. Is. Massive. Super massive. This is the holiest mosque in Islam and currently occupies 88 acres and construction is underway to increase the capacity to 2.5million people. Yes 2,500,000 people for the Hajj pilgrimage. Considering a big football stadium holds 100,000 this is quite the mosque!

Approaching Mecca

So I knew I wouldn’t make it into the mosque but had hopes of seeing it from the outside. I had also heard less founded rumours of non-Muslims not being allowed in Mecca as the city is holy in Islam but as nobody had bothered leaving Jeddah, nobody could verify this. Even many of my Muslim friends who had been there didn’t know because they didn’t pay any attention. So off on my merry journey I went wondering how would anybody verify that you were Muslim or not. Now being white would be a sign but there are plenty of white Muslims in the world so if I tried to keep a low profile and with my darkening tan maybe I could pass for a Moroccan or something! Surely they couldn’t check everybody as that would be a major operation, they must just have security or something close to the mosque so you can’t get close. Yeah, that must be it.

Oh no, that wasn’t it. They do check everybody. How do they do it? By putting huge checkpoints across the motorways exactly like tolls. And they also put a huge sign over the road to say if you are non-Muslim then get off. It seems crazy but in Saudi anything is possible. You feel very unloved and rejected. Up the ramp I went and onto the ‘Christian bypass’ which brings you 50km out of your way into the desert to bypass the city. The city is the holiest in Islam and hence Mecca is forbidden for non-Muslims, Medina further north also has this restriction. So how do they know that a white dude from Ireland isn’t a closet Muslim? Well firstly if you convert to Islam you need to take a Muslim name, Mohammed, Hamed, Abdullah etc. They are surprisingly few different names in Saudi as they are all named after the prophet or his followers so you end up knowing tens of people with the same name. But I’m sure if I managed to get around that part they would ask a prayer or two which is always in Arabic to trip me up. So with high hopes of seeing the mosque I drove out into the sunset in the desert and onto Taif and its baboons fully rejected from Mecca and once again Saudi’s making life hard.

About Ross Travellingforfun

I have ducked, dived, bungeed, burned, skydived, surfed, volunteered, volcanoed, crossed continents, conquered mountains, got robbed, got sick and got drunk and I hope this website will inspire you to do the same.

151 Comments

So, I knew that Non-Muslims weren’t allowed to visit Mecca, but I didn’t know just how hardcore they were about it! You had to veer off to a separate motorway for Christians?! What if you’re not Christian

Thanks Dariece. Doesn’t matter what religion you are, if you aren’t Muslim then you don’t get in. Not sure exactly but I would say it’s just named the Christian Highway because most who people aren’t Muslim are Christians.

Then why do you come to the west? Why do you want to live in Europe and USA ??? if WE ACCEPT YOU and we try to give you rights to keep your faith and e trated equally shouldn’t arab states treat us also equally???

Mimi

Posted January 15, 2018 at 5:25 PM

Actually you say europe but over here most people accept muslims and nearly everyone hates trumps ideas so don’t say EUROPE! Just say USA. WEre not racist

He banned citizens of countries which have strong terror links. This means that if youre a citizen of Iraq for example, and youre a jew, you still wouldnt be able to get into the US. Therefore, the so called “Muslim Ban” isnt actually a Muslim ban

That would be Christian’s problem not Muslim’s problem
Live how you want and let Muslims live how they want
Arabs don’t interfere in your business and you shouldn’t be stuffing your nose in theirs
PERIOD!

First of all Makkah is not a tourist place, it’s a holy place for Muslims and when it’s a holy place, you worship Allah and do your best. If they allowed tourists some of them will take pictures and make fun, some of them will do stupid acts, it’s not you but the people are people. In Makkah we don’t want someone to take picture of us and just people staring at us. If you converted to Islam, you are very WELCOME to Makkah cause it’s (((very very))) holy place to us.

Hey Faisal, that’s quite the double standard there buddy. So the Vatican which houses the resting place of St. Peter (one of the twelve disciples) is considered a holy place for all Catholics around the world, yet every religion/people are allowed to visit and even take pictures or even make fun of the church’s corruption more or less in your own time, amongst all other things. Maybe we should build a separate highway for non-christian’s so you could take a u-turn back home or maybe forbid you for taking pictures in there either. OR, I got a better idea from your comment, MAYBE you can still come if you converted to Christianity. Imagine how that would look to the world

FYI, before you reply, I am neither catholic/religious nor keen on visiting Makkah. Just thought I’d give you a lesson on what the word “Tolerance” means in the world where Governments don’t behead their citizens in front of others to watch.

whatever

Posted December 5, 2017 at 6:26 AM

Then do it? we ain’t gonna stop you from doing it, maybe people will but some won’t.
But that’s just human nature.

In my lifetime people were not been allowed into places in the US and South African countries because of the colour of their skin. Thankfully, that has changed but it’s just as unpleasant as discriminating on the basis of religion, isn’t it!

You took a very dangerous step, since penalty for any non- muslim caught in Mecca is death by beheading in a public place.
There is no secret about Makkah ,Qaba etc.you can watch tons of videos on internet, which show every aspect of the place

Mecca do have holy Masque in more than 88 acre of land but other than that you have nothing else. Muslim prays five time a day and they do Umra 24/7. You can observe people praying 24/7 and only thing you observe men and women are going and coming out of mosque.
If it is open for tourist then there will distraction and inconvenience and is the reason there is extra pain of building separate road for non muslin and is has nothing to do with the hindu or christian or any other religion

I am a Muslim convert of 16 years you do not have to take a Muslim name that is very cultural my husband is a Muslim convert and he still has his an American name so you don’t have to correct information this is to the guy that posted this not to you and the reason why my Muslims are not allowed in Mecca is because there’s a billion of us we can’t fit the whole human race into their so it’s it’s our mosque in our holy site. That was set in place for a reason to keep the keep it safe for Muslims

Der is not much of a difference between the two religions, Jesus Christ is one of the prophets of the muslims. Christians call him the son of god, but the muslims call him their last prophet. All of the other prophets of the muslims and the Christians, are the same..

The history of these two religions is somewhat the same, but you just hav to figure it out ! The rules of these two religions are different.

No no no. While you say Jesus is the son of god; whom Christians worship instead of God himself, in Islam, Jesus is one of the prophets. Not the last prophet. The last prophet is Muhammad. & the history of Islam and Christianity are different although they were introduced one after the other by the same God.

Addin, not sure what you are saying to be honest. I didn’t mention Jesus at all in the post. I agree that of course they have different histories as they started hundreds of years apart. All I was saying in the post was that it is very strange not to be allowed into a ‘city’ whatever about a mosque.

Jesus is one of the mightiest prophet in Islam. It is very interesting brother to read Quran’s Chapter Merium and birth of Jesus.
Because he is born without father Jesus does not become son of God.
The logic does not hold water since God can do just by saying and he did created Adem without father or mother.
If I do not believe on Jesus as my prophet then I will not be a muslim.
I have to believe he is one of the mightiest prophet came on the earth but he is not last and he not sn of God

Mikey

Posted December 4, 2017 at 1:40 PM

And that’s actually a HUGE difference netween Islam and Christianity. You see, according to the Bible, Jesus is the son of God whom God sent to this world to do his mission – to die on the cross as a sacrifice for the sins of all human beings. He didn’t stay in the grave though – He resurrected on the third day, went to heaven and will one day come back to Earth to rule with God

Addin, these two faiths are NOT from the same God. Read the history! It’s madness to say that Jesus was a good man, one of the prophets. Either He was God incarnate or He was a liar and a madman. Jesus Himself called God His Father, said that He was sent by God, that He and the Father are One, and that He came to give His life as a ransom. Mohammed came centuries later and preached another gospel…

Agree with you Phil. Jesus of the Bible isn’t the Eisa/Essa of the Koran. Both religions have no relationships whatsover. Allah is an household idol Mohammed’s father Abd’allah who was a pagan idol worshipper. Abd’allah translates to servant of Allah. Which means, before Koran was “revealed”, Allah, the idol was already in existence. When Mohammed brought his religion into existence, he destroyed the other 300+ idols and let only Allah, the idol remains which is now in the Ka’abah in Mecca.

Dr Sim

Posted February 16, 2015 at 11:02 AM

Allah is the arabic term for God. Muslims dont do idol worship. They believe in The God of Abraham but reject the trinity. They also believe in the second coming of Jesus to save the world from the Anti Christ.They even follow the laws in the Old testament like the Jews do, no pork, no alcohol.

Faisal

Posted June 23, 2015 at 2:58 PM

I’m a Muslim and islamic history tells us that ka’abah was built by hazrat Ibrahim(as) by the orders from Allah. It was a specific location given by Allah because right above it, in the 7th sky there is a throne of Allah on which Allah is sitting and which the angels are worshipping. The ka’abah is only a direction given to humans to worship the 5 times obligatory prayers. I’ve been there and it’s beautiful. We believe that hazrat Essa(as) was also one of the prophets of Allah and that he was raised to the heavens alive and will come back to clear this world from sins and will be a follower of Hazrat Muhammad(saw) instead of coming back as a prophet because of the seal of the prophethood. He will kill the anti-christ (dajal).

alia

Posted July 10, 2015 at 11:19 PM

Jesus christ in christianity is the same jesus christ in islam . his name was “yashoa’a, Eisus and Eissu in Hebrew and Eissa son of Mariam. He never claimed to be god in ur bible he is not the s begotten son of god but a mighty messenger peace be upon him.

God did not kill Eissa for your sin! you are responsible for your own sins.everybody are. Go read the bible again and see if he ever ever mentioned he was god saying ” I’m god worship me” Never.

Judi

Posted June 5, 2017 at 2:54 PM

Jewdaism christianity and islam are abrahamic faiths, the jews and christistians in the middle east were semetic people and called god elah/elohim/el lah. arabs were semetic people as well. the arabs from th middle east were either jew or christians or pegans, the kaaba was built by the prophet abraham and his son. so people knew that there was a god but they didnt know how to connect or practice faith because they had so much corruption and idols because of the pagan jews that where in SA. The prophet destroyed all the idols there was none left insode the kaaba. Man you guys know the truth yet you act like the pagans of that time causing and preading false info and hate. God knows whats in your heart and what you do and you will be judge for every rumor/misinformation you spread of his religion. Go read properly you clearly are lost

Phil I don’t know how I can say this without being rude but you need to get your head out of your backside and re-educate yourself. Judaism Christianity and Islam and every other prophet that came before them including Adam noah Abraham lot Ishmael Jacob Joseph and all the ones you’ve ever heard of in the Bible torah or the quran. They all came with the same message, worship one God. Makkah and medina is NOT a museum or a tourist site it’s a holy place for pilgrims who are believers following the teachings of Abraham and mohammed (peace be upon them), in today’s case it’s the Muslims. And please don’t make statements that are not true. Some other people have also made untrue statements. You can take pics of anything you want. I was there yesterday just returned back to the uk today. My first ever visit and it was the best. And yes there are Christians and Jews and they are allowed to live in the country just not practise they’re religion openly. Every country has rules and they’re rules are just that. If they were performing the pilgrimage then theyou would be in makkah and medina like the rest. Also if they were practising and performing such pilgrimage then they wouldn’t be a jewellery or a Christian, would they?? Do you now understand or you still don’t cos your just another ashol who watches the news and follow the media from the west too much. Educate yourself and find out the truth. YouTube is a good start.

No, Muslims only existed 600 years after Christ and claiming Jewish and Christian’s prophet to be muslim! It is called stealing! and at the same time they hate the Jews so much…. Before Muhammad, there was no Islam and Muhammad is the only prophet of Islam

That’s what christian belief. Islam exist since even before Adam & Eve Era. Islam in arabic actually means Submit to God, Muslim is the submitter to god. Each era god send prophet and then when human forgot about Islam, god sent another prophet, again and again til the last one

Thank you very much. In such short words you actually said the truth. Islam has been around since mankind was first created. What we now know as these religions and refer to with such names are simply just names given by people not God. Islam means submit to God which in other words means worship one God. Different prophets were sent to different era so mankind could be guided and as mankind were forgetting God and practising idols. As muslims our duty is to obey and submit to the will of Allah, so when Allah tells us to circumbalate the kabah in makkah anticlockwise, we obey him without asking why. Little did we know that everything in the universe is following the exact same course without asking. “It’s called cosmic revolution”. Everything in the universe submits to the will and rules of Allah.

Do you know that the birthplace of christ has a lock on it and the key to that lock is in hands of a muslim. Do you know there are foot steps still visible of the prophet Ibrahim in makkah of when he was building the ka’abah.

Kaba is just rectangular room and some time people climb on roof and call for prayer
The place is place for peace and guidance to face for prayer so we can connect to God and do not argue about direction
Other than this it has no meaning in Islam

123
are you absolutely out of your mind? how long have you actually studied Islam? have you read the Xhoran? do you now the five pillars? the ninety-nine names?
though they share the same roots, Islam is nothing more than a male-centric power controlling cult…….
really not much difference?

how many christians would consider beheading or stoning to death anyone that wouldn’t accept Jesus as their savior, vs. how many muslims, etc, etc etc.

goodness, can you read? please get an education or, one of your abdullah buddies is gonna separate your head from your body, unless you’re one of them!!

Psalm NOT Pslams 137:9 and it is not blessing those who killed infants. The verses 8 and 9 talk about repayment to those who perpetrated the killing of infants.
Vs 8. “O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he whom repays you for what you have done to us -”
Vs 9. “he who seizes our infants and dashes them against the rocks”.

Thankfully Christianity is a religion of Love. This makes it totally opposed to true Islam which sadly is a religion of hate. You only have to compare the number of Muslims that kill and praise Allah whilst they do it and the majority Muslim response to these actions.

Imagine the outcry from the Christian world if a Roman Catholic started killing and beheading and praising Jesus whilst he did it. There would be instant condemnation and disownership from the Pope and all Christians.

Sadly Christians have had cause to kill but it is not considered a religious experience but at times a situation forced on us eg the world wars or to stop genocide eg Bosnia. Jesus’s teaching unlike Mohammed’s is about peace, love and forgiveness. That is why the majority of Christian countries have abolished the death penalty and feel guilty if involved in actions that cause death. The Jewish and Christian God is “slow to anger and quick to forgive”, Jesus taught “Blessed are the Peacemakers”, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” WHICH IS CONSIDERED THE GOLDEN RULE TO CHRISTIANS.

Ur right on the part that Islam and Christianity have many similarities. We as Muslims do believe Jesus pbuh was God’s Messiah and one of His mightiest messengers. However we don’t believe he was God’s final messenger. Prophet Muhammad pbuh is who God’s final messenger to all mankind

what you said is right apart from one thing
We don’t say Jesus the Messiah is last prophet
Prophet Muhammad is the last Prophet
We believe Jesus was born without father with God’s miracle and God granted him many miracles and also it is our one of fundamental belief that Jesus the Messiah (peace be upon Him) will descend to earth before the end time and rule justly on earth until God wills
Read chapter of Mary (peace be upon her)in the holy Quran. It’s about Jesus and His noble and pious mother Mary… http://quran.com/19

your wrong in fact religion is man made none have the correct name of God. all of the names are changed so as to remove connection with God. mecca is a tourist destination for Muslims geared to bring in money. the whole world is based on money.
you will know when the true name of God is spoken the earth will shake.

Thanks for the comment Alladin. It is not the same in the Vatican. You can enter the city (you can’t in Mecca although I do realise that Mecca is much bigger) and you can enter inside the basilica like any church whereas you can’t in Mecca! Mecca/Medinah must be one of the only cities, not buildings, in the world that you cannot enter based on religion.

I’ve been to the Vatican, but the only thing they are strict about is clothing. Men are not allowed to wear something on their head, for women it is better if you do so. Clothing should cover the shoulder and the ankles. They don’t care about religion. I visited with many atheist and they could enter as well.

Actually, you can always lie that you are a Muslim. Just say to them that you are a recent convert (mualaf). You do not need to change your name immediately. I’m a Muslim and my name is not a Muslim.
Allah, has forbid non-muslim to enter Mecca and Madina. Same like Allah forbid muslim to drink alkohol. Human has given the option to obey or not. If your curiosity is unbearable, just try to enter our city. Let Allah determine what is good for you. Either you can be punished by the medium of the Authority or having the punishment directly from Allah. Just let us know the end story aye :).
Before you plan to go in, walk us through your preparation. We will chime in our idea. Let us know when you wanted to go to our city/holy mosque and give us updates after you exited the city/holy mosque. I’ve heard a lot of non-muslim tries. I’ve heard that they succeed to fool the authority. For those who successfully fool the authority, either they finally become a Muslim or died along the way due to freakish accident. Probably that’s only an exaggeration. Hence, I would like to see you try. If you survive, tell us in details. If not,….. well,…. end of story :).

And also you have to have papers showing you tuck shahada it is not that easy to get into Mecca they will also questioned you about stuff that a Muslim should know plus trying to sneak in and lie I’m not saying this to you but I’m talking about the other person who’s griping because he can’t enter the holy city that’s not right either trying to sneak and to another person’s home isn’t right Mecca and Medina belongs to the Muslims it does not belong to the Christian art of Jews I’m sorry you feel left out but get over it it does not belong to you end of story and if you want to go bad enough take your shahada and become a Muslim and if you cannot do that stay out

You are amazing its so true tho most of those who got in was only by gods will because in their hearts they meant well and they wanted to go to makkah because they felt spirituality and close to god. SO they later converted. Those who went with evil in yjeir hearts died there. Even the Dajjal wont be allowed to enter makkah because he is also evil and unclean at heart. So try to go and good luck to anyone that tries to

So i am a south American fella with tanned brown skin & facial hair. Often people think I am Arab or some middle easterner. As you said the non Muslims can’t enter .what if they lie & have a person to back up to help out ? What are the loop holes to make it to the Mecca ??

Eduardo, there is a checkpoint on the main road so I am not 100% sure how it works as I didn’t chance going through it. I presume they probably don’t stop you if look Arab but if you stick out then they do. They may ask for your passport and they would expect a Muslim name.

You probably are in fact Arab. A lot of the Spanish South Americans are in fact descendants of the companions of the Prophet SAW. How they arrived there is on slave ships from Spain, when Islamic Spain had been taken back by the queen, and Columbus needed slaves to man the boats

Visiting Jeddah!
Hello Ross, I am on my way to visit Jeddah and I was thinking/hoping to visit Mecca as well – I am noticing (and confirming) though that I will not be welcomed there since I am a Christian! Anything else worth doing while in Jeddah? Is there a way to get “close enough” to Mecca during my trip there? I will be there early June. Let me know if you have any good ideas or tips. Thanks for the great web site!

Thanks. Firstly you cannot legitimately visit Mecca. They have a checkpoint (like a toll booth) on the motorway where they check passports. I didn’t try it but if you are willing to risk it then you may get in. In Jeddah there is not a whole load to see really but the King Fahd fountain (highest in the world) is right off the coast in the centre. It may only come on after dusk. This is by the cornice, a promenade by the sea. Definitely nothing beautiful compared to other cities but worth a look. In the ‘Balad’ city centre there are old decrepit houses made of coral but they are not looked after very well and on Fridays there is a market nearby after prayer. Another nice place to hang out is Obhur to the north end of the city. It is a long inlet where you can pay to enter a hotel and go to the beach. It’s very westernized. Also around Obhur are dive/boat companies that you can go diving/snorkelling with. You will either need a car or a taxi to go to all these places. Driving is crazy in Saudi so watch out for that.

Well i lived in Saudi Arabia for 15 years and i been to Makkah hundred times

It’s only during Hajj / Umrah time they normally check whoever they want ( 80/100 ) but if you go there different times the percentage goes to 50/50. You still have to pass the checkpoint but they won’t check everyone or ask for an ID

But there other routes available where you pay someone who will take you there illegal routes via Taif ( another city )

Fair enough, I didn’t know that. I wasn’t brave enough to try it. And as I am from Ireland I am white so I’m sure I would be one of the 50% they would check. I did read on the internet of others that got in illegally but as I was working there I didn’t want any trouble and I am sure the others would be the same.

I’ve only been to mecca once and they didnt stop us they just waived us in. But we are Jordanian and had the Saudi garb on. So we looked the part so no checking

The only thing i would say if you ARE going for work quite honestly your best chance is when you fill out the Visa paper work it asks religion. Put muslim. Learn the shahadah (its not too hard) and maybe the Fatah (Thats a bit harder) But just say you are a recent convert and could work. Worst case is they would say no i guess.

my 2 cents. i will say it is pretty cool looking though i wish they’d open it up to limited tourism would actually help the image of islam if they did.

That was my philosophy, better not to risk it. It really would have been cool to see up close though even if just from the outside. I can understand during Ramadan or other holidays why it would be closed but for the rest of the year I think the city should be open if not necessarily the mosque. As you say it would help the image.

Pro Libertate

Posted October 13, 2016 at 5:50 PM

Ross, can you imagine for 1 second a western city saying “It’s Christmas, we only allow in Christians”?

Of couse we don’t do such stuff, but I will never look for excuses for their behavior.

It’s ugly, period.

jmey

Posted November 8, 2016 at 6:12 PM

Reply too long to include everything:

As derived from the old testament:-

Pilgrimage of Ezekiel to Mecca:
The sections of this article are:
1- Pilgrimage of Ezekiel to Mecca.
In the Book of Ezekiel (Ch, 40-47) , He tells us about a journey had been done for him by the Lord (or an Angel) in his vision…from his description to this journey we can conclude the following points…:
1) The Place and Time:
Ezekiel:
40:1 In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither.
40:2 In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south.
In these 2 verses Ezekiel detects the time of this journey (in the beginning of the year,in the tenth day of the month)..In fact I am not sure weather this is the ACCURATE Translation of the verse (or of what Ezekiel really meant) or No…but Jews used to use the Lunar months exactly as Muslims..and it’s well known that the 10th day of the LAST month is Eid Al Adha during the pilgrimage o Mecca every year…Whatever, I find the similarities between the 2 dates (Eid Al Adha and the Journey of Ezekiel) ..The rest of the story will make it clear though..!
but What about the PLACE?..Well..let’s read :
“God brought me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south.”..
The City is in SOUTH to the Land of Israel, Where it’s enclosed by Mountains…What is this City?…Without any doubt Mecca just lies in the south of Land of Israel and it’s enclosed by Mountains..Yet..Further proofs are followed in his description to that place..!
2) The shape of that Place:
According to the description of Solomon’s temple, it’s pretty clear that it differs from the one described by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 40-43, that refutes any tries to claim that Ezekiel described the House of God in Jerusalem.
And that shows that it wasn’t a foursquare temple.

I feel offended that I am not allowed to enter white house or CIA headquarters or area 51. Whta kind of country does that. If I am allowed to enter america then why not these places. Racist.
The above few lines were just to show you that the logic you used is flawed. Thank you.

Those are buildings, not cities! If you were not allowed in Washington then your argument would be the correct. As I said in the post, I presumed I would not be allowed in the mosque (like a building) but the city is a bit extreme.

Jonah asked an important question, do you want to visit because of: learning about Islam; curiosity; the architecture?
Curiosity… i can tell you that it is just like any other metropolis; it is busy (more so during hajj and lesser-hajj seasons), and has suburbs and malls, just like any other bustling place. Many of the international hotels, food and store franchises (Hilton, Intercontinental, KFC, Burger King, Macdonalds, Pizza Hut, Bhs, H&M, Starbucks, Debenhams, Mothercare etc…) that you find around the world, and in other developed countries, you will also find here. Nothing new, they’re ALL in Jeddah, too. The prescence of the Grand Mosque is really what makes Makkah stand out from their other cities.
Even the remaining historical sites that are still standing are very few and far between, and you’d need to have some Islamic knowledge to understand why they are places of interest.
Architecture…with the ongoing mosque expansion project, and unless, it’s the clock tower building (Abraj al-bait) that interests you… you’d expect to find many old buildings because of its historical significance, especially near the Mosque, which is the nucleus and older part of the town, but not so. Over time, older quarters in Makkah have been brought down to make room for bigger and modern ones. You can find more older houses in Jeddah.
Infact, I imagine wherever you have free-access to in Saudi Arabia, you’re not missing out on much that is in Makkah, except the Grand Mosque, which,though a non-muslim, you can pretty much view 24hrs on their local tv channel.

how in the world could you acutally conceive of putting the terms ‘Saudi Arabia’ and ‘free-access’ in the same sentence?
not all amercains are totally illiterate when it comes to the Middle East and Islam, I have lived in SA and there is absolutley no such thing as free access – unless you’re muslim or, you have ‘al-Saud’ as a part of your given name – you’re part of that tribe. if you’re american, free-access? f**k off mate!

Not only that but entry to those is not based on religion. In fact, I’m sure the CIA has more than a few Muslims working for them. I mean seriously, if you want intelligence in Muslim countries it might help to have some on your payroll.

And you can get into the White House. I have been there. There are tours. Sure, you can’t just walk in and knock on the door to the Oval Office but that’s not based on religion either.

As for Area 51 I understand the need for security and often secrecy on military bases. You probably can’t just walk into one in Saudi Arabia either even if you are a Muslim.

If I had time and money to visit all the other places ahead of Mecca on my list I would learn enough to pass for Muslim and go just because it’s a very historic place and I think it would be very interesting.

dear mecca is also place where Muslims are praying that place is not for tour in pilgrim days only short list people (Muslim) allowed due to huge crowed I do not know why non Muslim want to go there every one knowing that place for praying nor enjoyment ( tour ).

Greetings just wNted to explain that what u experienced is Saudi law the laws of the Kings of Saydi and Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and the Holy Quran did not order the Saudi kings to disallow non-Muslims from entering Mecca and malinah. You are allowed to enter for any human purpose, interfaith dialogue, business, construction, visiting relatives and friends etc You can also enter Masjid AlHaram the sacred holy mosque in Makkah to have interfaith dialogue of course dressed accordingly etc But idolaters or Pwho wish to commit pagan acts or call people to worshipping men or created things or beings are disallowed at the sacred mosque located in Mecca because God told Prophet Ibrahim that the sacred mosque will be purified only for Worshippers who pray only to the Creator of the universe and they associate no partners with the Creator.

dears hi all
i just want to tell the people that angry with this thing, believe me it’s easy to be understood. if you want to visit Rome, London, morocco, Spain or any country in the universe you should have a visa and the visa is like a permission says ” you are welcome to come ….” and you pay much money for this visa some time you got it or don’t some times be more expensive, so for makkah also you should got visa but it’s free and easy and this visa is believe in the Allah (Muslim god) and his prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him)

Summer, please tell me who to believe here. You say that I can enter Mecca or Medina “for any human purpose,” but the picture clearly shows the “Muslims only” sign. ??
And dear Mostafa, really? You think it’s free and easy to believe in Allah and Mohammed. Not for this follower of Jesus Christ!! It’s not easy, because I’m convinced of my faith in God through Christ, and it’s not free, because I’d be giving up my salvation, which only comes through Christ. Now THAT’s a free gift!=)

You don’t even remember what you wrote yourself then ? : “The mosques are the most ornate and impressive structures in Saudi Arabia but you are not supposed to take any pictures although you can sneak a few from far away with the risk of being thrown in jail for a month or two. ”
(And yes, it is complete bullcrap what you wrote).

There are billions of Muslims around the world who long to go and visit and perform the pilgrimage in the holy cities. Unfortunately, there is not enough space, capacity, resources so the government limit the number of Muslims to go each year. the government has to decide, do they want the non-Muslims to go, or the devoted Muslims who would pay anything to go and worship and perform pilgrimage. Muslims believe they do not decide to go, they are called upon to the holy city. our local mosque in the uk holds open days every week and welcomes non-Muslims. The largest mosque in the UAE also welcomes thousands of non-Muslim visitors everyday.

I can understand during Ramadan and other religious holidays why access to the city or mosque might be restricted because of the crowds but this was not the case. The city is closed to non-Muslims 365 days a year.

There have a story that non muslim try to enter mecca city will dissapear and cant to find them.. Mecca is full of unlogical happen, but its true.. Really true. Its not a magic but its Allah almighty.. Sorry for my bad english.

Makkah really is a city which never sleeps. You’ve seen many different cities but you’ve never seen this city. “Umrah” which is also an obligatory pilgrim for Muslims can be done any time of the year. The number of umrah done every year is increasing every year. I’ve recently done an umrah at the least crowded time of the year and believe me I’ve never seen so many Muslims in my life. And the structure of the city is being developed each year to handle such crowd. I think Jonah’s theory is valid.

Brother every day people from all over world visit and perform Umrah. Yes it has spike in visitor in the month of Ramadan and Hajj.
But people perform Umra 24/7 and there is 5 time compulsory prayer and sixth one is optional

Summer is absolutely correct. There is no Surah in the Quran or Hadith that prohibits non-Muslims from entering even the holy mosques, let alone the cities of Mecca or Medina. On the contrary, you will see that the Quran has several references inviting non-Muslims to enter the holy mosques in Mecca and Medina to specific purposes, including but not limited to interfaith discourses and learning.

The current law prohibiting non-Muslims into Mecca and parts of Medina is from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia — which to be honest contradicts the teachings in Quran.

It surely is a shame to humanity that someone can be denied entry to any place purely based on religious beliefs.

Whilst i respect the interpretation of the text, reading that I feel that idolaters would be pagans who worship false gods made of gold and other effigies, something that Christians and Jews do not do. All 3 religions that are tied together by the same God should not be divided and meetings of interfaith in all of the Holy cities for each religion should be important.

alex,
REAAAALLLY?>
and, just as a slight afterthought
could you publish, mention or, cite ANY examples of Islamic respect for other religions in the past 10 years? any? that do NOT include a sword at the neck of someone that refuses to convert?
Geesh – idiocy is really contagious these days!!

Stephen

Posted June 20, 2016 at 1:27 AM

During the revolution in Egypt the government tried to divide and conquer by bombing Christian churches, the Muslims responded by surrounding the churches during prayer time to protect them and the Christians did the same for Muslims.

Muslims and Christians also support each other in Palestine against the occupation all the time.

Very well said. I was wondering about this and will do more researching. It certainly is a shame to deny someone else based on their religious beliefs, totally goes against what we all learn in religion.

I think the more important question is why would anyone ever want to visit Saudi Arabia if you’re not a Muslim. It’s the armpit of the Earth, sandy and dusty, and the personal hygiene isn’t quite so good among its citizens.

Why do people always want to metaphorically eat the forbidden fruit? If mecca doesnt want me, then I dont want to be there. I disagree with the ban, and consider it very prejudiced and un god like., but it’s not a fight worth having. There are many other wonderful cities that will open arms and accept me for who I am. I am not muslim because i disagree with the islamic understanding of who God is. Having said that — Most muslims are good wonderful people though, and I always try to be the same to them.

Salam to all broders,sisters….. Just wanna give a few sudgest to anyone nonmuslim who are trying enter that two forbiden city.. Why not you all faking up identity by saying that you are muslim?, use fake visa,fake name or whatever as long as you can past the check point….. And than, after entering it you will know for sure why it is forbidden.
That two city forbid for nonmuslim not a command by saudi arabia but the allah it self….. Even we are muslim, have a lot of bad exspereance if entering this two city with wrong mean…

the sign says “obligatory for non-muslims” it is a sign to respectfully ask u that this your limit. which you ignored and put ur self in a very embarrassing situation.

“You feel very unloved and rejected.”

if u did not try to challenge if they’ll let u or not. Or your ignorance allowed you to disrespect what you know about the Holy lands you wouldn’t be so ignorant about saudi arabia.

Why do you have to play the poor victim here? When u took the choice to go to a land where 100% are muslims with two holy lands and decide to challenge them instead of just doing your researches quietly without disrespecting the laws?

If you would want to know the “idea of god” in a muslim mind, all u have to do is search for the word “god” in the Quraan index. if you’ll read it with unprejudiced mind then you’ll definitely know the answer my brother. You are being unjust to the holy book

Mecca is a pure and holy land as many of you know. It is very dear to Muslim’s hearts all around the world and religious or not, we all wish that one day by Allah’s willing He takes us there.
Now the whole ‘not letting non-Muslims in Mecca or Madinah’ really isn’t up to the government of Saudi. It was a command by Allah in the Quran. —>Trust me I know being a student of Islam learning the Quran, and if you want to contradict me all you have to do is read, and study Surah At-Tawbah (Chapter 9) in depth not just the translation.
We do not intend to make non-Muslims feel unwanted so I’m sorry if you do, but this is a religious thing and it is not in our hands as I said, but in the hands of The Creator.
I don’t see why non-Muslims are so intrested in Mecca. It has everything in Jeddah the only difference being Masjid Al-Haram.
For the people saying non-Muslims are allowed to enter the city and the mosque (?!?!) saying it’s in the Quran, please give me the proof for I know for a fact that they are not. –Please educate yourselves first, instead of deviating people.
No disrespect for non-Muslims, it just a command from Our Creator and what we strongly believe in.
If you so badly want to know the reason why they are not allowed to enter the holy city, please I invite you to study the Quran and get the answer for yourself for you will find the truth, if Allah wills.

Then your Creator is less tolerant than that of the other religions, since as far as I know they don’t ban ‘non-believers’ from their holy places.

Makkah is a part of human history and therefore is interesting to see for people who are interested in Islam, Muslims, humanity and history. I actually find it odd that you don’t see the point that it’s interesting for others as well. Maybe you should look a bit more past religious motives in life. No offense meant by the way.

I was in Jeddah last week and wanted to visit Mecca. And guess what, no taxi driver would bring me there because, as you said, it’s not allowed. Unlike you though, I could pass for a Saudi-looking guy.

It is unwanted disturbance in prayer brother In Mecca that is all people for pray and perform Umrah and Hajj. The place is place of piece and place which makes rich and poor same having unstitched cloth during Umrah and Hajj.

First of all Great Website Ross!!
Actually its not only the city, during the era of prophet (pbuh), an area was defined as “Haram” , it roughly means “To be respected”. There are very clear rules that we have to follow when in Haram that non Muslims are not aware of/can’t follow. Just to keep the place respected by the known rules, No non Muslims are allowed inside Haram. Of course one of the rules is that you accept Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) as the Last prophet of Allah. I have heard that many intelligence agencies have their guys working their but I wonder what they are looking for. Rest, if you want to know about Islam and its heritage, you don’t need to visit Haram (Makkah/Medina), there are plenty of sources to learn about it. Yea, the art of both mosques is exquisite and some designs on the walls are catchy.
You know most of the Muslims around the world cannot visit Makkah/Medina because travel is expensive, still they have knowledge of Islam and a very broad understanding. I just came back from Makkah and the routes/roads were crowded with people, and right now there are 90% white (Mostly Turkish) people there. If it was allowed I would have hosted you and showed you all the places that are part of Islamic history. People need to understand that Laws in other countries/religions are meant to be respected and followed. I respect you willing to visit these cities but Alas! you can’t. That’s the law. Otherwise, I have non Muslims friends and I LOVE them. never have I ever came across any teaching of Islam that would say HATE THEM or KILL THEM. People who believe this are either loaded with the anti-Islamic propaganda (via media/literature), or they have unfortunate experience of facing SO CALLED MUSLIMS but in real terrorists like ISIS. I have Christian neighbors back in Pakistan and they are so nice and loving. We just need to learn and follow the art of understanding each other with tolerance. Rest, I am a dedicated follower of your blogs now onwards. I wish I had that much of time to travel!! Peace!

If you non muslims were not denied access to riyadh(the capital city),jeddah etc,then it is very easy to understand that your ban from entering the two sacred cities is a command from Allah and not an order frm d kingdom.You were not hate by the kingdom or the muslims.and if you dont believe in Allah(the creator of jesus and who command Abraham to build the sacred mosque in mecca)then what do you want to do in these cities since they were not made for tourism except if you have a bad thing in your mind,if you can betrays Allah’s command,betrayed jesus command then it would be very easy for you to betrayed the holy mosque’s rules but if you want to know the reason behind this ban refer chapter 9 of the holy qur’an and study it with good hope.there was saying that”a fool is the one that refuses to accept what is true……”.

Hi , If you want to know Islam , first you should free your heart from hate , I know its hard for european brothers to think positive about Islam because their historical books and modern media is full of terrible , false and fake things about Islam .in fact it was a project that started by church to stop Islam by showing it as evil .
Islam is not for Arabs or specific race , its for all mankind , and race is not important in Islam , just piety tellls who is better .
If we look in race , truly norsk peiple are the best because they are cuter than all but when we look at piety a mongol , african , irish , indian or etc can be among the bests .
Please read Quan to know Islam , Because truth has many enemies and Islam is truth so dont believe what enemies of truth say , search it by your heart , If you want real success so search Islam , i know about all other religions , none of them are scientific and reasonable as Islam .
Have you ever asked yourself , Why all media in west show Islam bad ?! If you find the real question you will accept Islam (If you freed your heart from hate) my dear brother and sisters .

I want to clarify an important point of the mosque has the ability to absorb specific can not be bypassed and requests to visit far more than the absorption capacity of the piece and put these conditions and to prevent a non-Muslim is not motivated persecution but for priorities, there are millions of people want to visit Mecca is not a picnic or Tours but ritual religious of their own also Muslims impose their systems to prevent their visit, for example, if you have already visited Mecca, you may not asked to visit only after a five-year note, the city of Mecca so small you imagine that comes 10 million people in just one month Add on the piece of pilgrims each year, 3 million in the day one if the city will realize the importance of these strict regulations to protect human life

As of this writing there is quite an interesting article and photo essay about Mecca at the New York Times. The author & photographer, a Catholic stated that he was allowed entrance into Mecca because he is married to a muslim woman and this would help him to better understand his wife’s faith (or something like that). So it seems that there are exceptions to entry into Mecca for non-muslims.

If you wish to enter makkah and/ or Medina you need a special visa called an omrah/ haj visa, these are different to work visas or travelling visas. Presumably these are checked at these checkpoints but in my last few years going there have been no such checkpoints. I think they now have officials who check your visas before you get into your cab which is better for traffic imo. The grand mosque in makkah is a very holy place in Islam and as a result non Muslims are not allowed to enter as people are engaging in prayers etc. Also it’s so busy (around 2+ million people in the n mosque) that maybe it’s also crowd control. If you are a revert to islam you don’t need to take a Muslim name, people just choose to, mike Tyson is still called mike Tyson. As is jermaine jackson, presumably when applying for you umrah visa they ask you to sign a declaration of your faith. It’s only these two places that non Muslims cannot enter, you should have been allowed to enter the mosques and I apologise for you not bing able to.

And when Allah (God) will say (on the Day of Resurrection):O Jesus , son of Mary ! Did you say unto men : Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah ? He will say : Glory be to You ! It was not for me to say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing , You would surely have known it . You know what is in my inner-self though I do not know what is in Yours ; truly , You , only You , are the All-Knower of all that is hidden .

Never did i say to them aught except what You (Allah) did command me to say : Worship Allah (God), my Lord and your Lord ; And I was a witness over them while I dwelt amongst them , but when You took me up , You were the Watcher over them ; and You are a witness to all things .

It never ceases to amaze me how we, Westerners, expect the rest of the world to conform to our way of thinking and doing.
I read, “If they won’t let us __, then we shouldn’t let them __!”
They are who they are, we are who we are. That’s it.
In addition, Jews, Muslims and Christians (in that order) are all descendants of Abraham.

Greetings to all Muslims and Non-Muslims.
Those area that being restricted from non Muslims has its own reason.
Its a peaceful place for Muslims.
The most peaceful place on earth.
Its a clean city for Islam. A place where all muslims focus in worshipping and cleansing themselves.
Maybe by watching online documentary or read the Quran you will understand better why this and that. And making you understand a religion may not turns you to that religion. Unless you found the truth and you change for a better you.

I did read the Quran. That’s why I know just how full of nonsense and hatred it really is.

I have no idea how you can read that and still believe in it.

Best verse ever to prove that there’s nothing godly about the Quran:

2:6

It says: Allah DECIDES who will believe or not believe in Islam, i.e. he will “close the eyes/ears/hearts of the non-believers.

And then, Allah will “punish” those he MADE not to believe and torture them for eternity.

There are only 2 possible interpretations of this verse:
– Allah is an absolutely horrible, sadistic monster that creates little creatures that he then tortures for no reason whatsoever, as they are just his puppets.

alternatively:

– Mohammed was just another sect leader who made up verses as needed. This one was his explanation for why so many intelligent people refused to believe in Islam. And with the second part, he tries to intimidate his followers into absolute obedience.

To me, the answer is more than obvious.

I can say with absolute certainty that a being able to create 180 billion galaxies could not take any pleasure out of torturing tiny human beings. It would be like a human being torturing a virus.

The only true problem is religion. Believing in a god is awesome and peaceful. And why not believe in something or someone? But religion makes it scary, because it involves a lot of rules to stick by, made up by people to control the group belonging to that religion.

I don’t get why some people are not allowed into Makkah because they do not follow the religion but believe in a God. It should not matter which god it is you believe in.

On the other hand. If there is only one true god and your religion tells you other gods are not real, 1 has to be right. What if you believe in the wrong one?

Non-muslims are not allowed to enter Makkah because they do not believe in prophet Mohammed . Once they believe in him they are welcome to come in.
On the other hand, all Muslims should be welcome in every country because they believe in all prophets and respect all religions and they do not abuse other religion by the concept of Freedom of speech.

If anybody is converted to muslim,it dosen’t mean that he has forfeited his previous religion,because a muslim is the beliver of all prophets,and prophet Muhammed SWAS is the last of prophets.So accept Islam and muhammed SWAS as the leader of all prophets and then go to Makkah and Madina.All your sins will be forgiven.

First of all your all just talking out of your assessment. Like pentagon like area 51 like Whitehouse. It’s rules they don’t give access to anybody their rules they’re country they’re restriction access.
Listen you need access to get thru to these area location buildings whatever let’s not nit pick. You have to be a member an employee whatever you wanna put names titles whatever. Same way building location’s citis their country their rules and you want access the only way you can get access is by permission. Permission of whom of Allah. Become a member become a Muslim an employee of Islam do your duty towards your employer who is God Allah.
Sole as that fuuuukheads.

2ndly why is it the white man always wants to put his Un circumcised coak everywhere. Listen you can’t even sort your own shiiit countries out I’m not angry with the west I’m angry at the east to let the west become rich they take from the east and ravage thru it all making the east poor. I say to the east duck the west like it was before the Europeans went to the USA. And what they were likein the dark ages. Let them have thir west and everyone go back to their countries. The white man fake religions. Fake lifestyles. Stealing thieving. And wanting to fukkkk anything that they see. I swear since the start of time nothing the white skin human has ever done has been good for mankind always causing chaos always causing wars. Spreading diseases. Having or goes spreading diseases bastard children everywhere creating more bastArds. When will the brown skin people learn to stay away from these people accept your countries build them up stop sending food minerals gold necessities to survive to the west and let’s see how long the fukkers last. Everyone go back to there countries don’t let them in and don’t go there. Watch I swear by God they will beg for mercy. Like they used to do back in the days. They only on there high horses cause you keep.begging them to let you in. Don’t let them in listen to trump. Everyone go back and start again this is the only way to make the east more powerful again. What gas the west got nothing listen give it maximum 4 to 5 years and they would all starve to death. All then necessities to survive food minerals comes from the easy and Africa. Fukkers them let them see they’re children starving g which is awful to say and then the greedy bastards will learn to not fukkers around. How log will they live on pasta and flour they’re won’t be enough food they need importation from the east. I say everyone fukkkk off back and build your own land it will take time make laws no one leaves to go to them and if ghey do they can never come back this way the west will be happy let them live. And you live the way you want. Let them starve. Let them kill each other. Let them live on beans. Let them have no religion. Let them fukkkk there sisters mums au ties toll there dickkkks drop off. Let them give eachoher diseases. But evend if everyone went back to gheir countries they would still not leave the east alone they would still cause chaos. The white non believer atheist son of a bitch is never happy until he destroys the world like he destroyed his mother’s womb.

You wasted your time for writing this dear, no normal person judge people according to their race, there are whites in east too as there are blacks in west, we are not living in middle ages to talk such way, i’m a white and i’m a Muslim and i don’t care about peoples race as prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: nor whites have superiority over blacks neither blacks over whites, and superiority of people is in their piety and being good, peace

Hi, I lived in Taif for a couple of years and would go to Jeddah with my wife every weekend we could. The Christian Bypass was a shock at first, but then my wife would put on a skip cap and drive the road. It was ok with little traffic [then],but without road lighting it was scary at night time – with camels wandering onto the road. And the stench from the Mecca sewage discharge pipe into the desert was always a highlight ! Happy memories…

This is absolutely preposterous! The problem is that there is no outrage about this, and most people, Muslims included, are not aware about it.

FYI, I am a Muslim. I was born into the Sunni Muslim faith, but now I am non-sectarian (neither Sunni nor Shia). I follow only the Quran, and do not belong to the Sunni congregation anymore. The irony is that even I will not be able to visit the Sacred Mosque or be able to enter Mecca itself for that matter, although I have the deep desire to do so. Since would I have to identify myself as “Sunni” or “Shia” in the “Sect” box of the Hajj/Umrah visa application form. Since I have a so-called “Muslim name”, I could sneak in without raising an alarm if I lie that I am Sunni (which I wouldn’t want to do). The point I am making is that even a Muslim like me cannot legitimately enter Mecca since I don’t belong to an orthodox Sect. So I know how you feel, and feel sorry for you. In this era of Trump, I am sure even those Muslims who defend this clear religious discrimination on display here know exactly how you feel, and would be the first to express outrage when somebody like Trump advocates it. But their hypocrisy prevents them from acknowledging it when they co-religionists do the same thing.

Just another tidbit … the fact that “non-muslims” are restricted only from the cities of Mecca/Medina is actually a modern, post-Ottoman development. According to classical “Muslim” scholarship, “non-muslims” are not just barred from these cities, but are barred from the “Peninsula of the Arabs” (jazirat al-‘Arab). Classical “scholarship” disagreed about what the “Peninsula of the Arabs” means, with opinions of its definition ranging from the Hijaz region (which includes Mecca and Medina) to literally the entire Arab peninsula from coast to coast. So the fact that only these cities are restricted today is a step in the right direction. And this was the reason for the growth of Al Qaeda itself, when bin Laden was outraged by the presence of “non-muslim” US troops in Saudi Arabia following Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait.

Thanks for sharing this story. There needs to be more outrage and awareness about this, before it can stop.

non-muslims are not allowed simply because makkah is already so so freaking crowded with muslims , certain number of muslims are allowed each year to visit the holy mosque , there have been accidents before where people have died (specially elderlies who can easily fall , and imagine that thousands are behind trying to move on and they don’t know that someone has fell ) and hence the government started organising the entrance by allowing a certain percentage from every muslim country so to make the pilgrim safe for worshipers. so having that said , it’s so funny that some pple want makkah to welcome non muslim tourists as well while there are thousands of muslims waiting in the list to visit or revisit makkah , it’s going to be totally chaotic , totally crowded. vatican with all of my respect is no comparison, in many aspects you can’t compare it , how many christian worshippers are there ? will they ever reach millions as in the case of makkah ? it’s never that much of crowed , it’s crowded by tourists yes , millions of tourists , and those tourists pay for their entrance( so it is purposely made an attraction site ) beside it’s forbidden in makkah to apply any charges for entrance , pple should be free of charge allowed in

Its kind of sad that they would be so ignorant and closed minded when the islamic religion was such a revolution at its advent. I understand not letting non-Muslims into mecca, but i am muslim and I want to visit makkah but on this visa for umrah you are not permitted to visit other cities. Like what’s with this close minded thinking? I see it all the time in my country too! It makes me feel like im depressed about the prospects for humanity when so many people in both America and in other parts of the world live lives of fear and close themselves off to new experiences that would be beneficial for them.